Simple Dreams
by Shenandoah76209
Summary: Nobody ever understands why touch is so important to Rogue. What if it was more than kissing? More than sex? What if her mutation took away her dreams. The Cure didn't work, but it was worth a try to get that dream back. But maybe...maybe that dream is possible even with a killer mutation? It all depends doesn't it on who that dream includes.
1. 1 Do I Wanna Know

_**Simple Dreams**_

_1) Do I Wanna Know_

It wasn't a conversation he expected to hear. Wasn't one he was particularly ready to hear but that was no one's fault but his own. He'd been around for a while and it hadn't escaped his notice that things were different. Sure the professor was back, after a fashion, but others were gone and some things had changed until they only bore the faintest resemblance to the way they were before.

Before.

Before the Cure. Before Alcatraz. Before he'd lost another piece of his humanity to blood and power.

"Don't you dare tell me to get over it!" Marie's voice was furious, contained and quiet but furious. He hoped like hell that the little ice dick wasn't the one she was arguing with. Anyone who fought with that kind of passion felt so deeply that he was envious of the recipient.

It wasn't Drake. She was fighting with Jubilee. The little mall rat herself. "Well I'm sorry if I don't get it. It's not that big of a deal. And it isn't like you aren't used to it."

"Used to it?" The Rogue was coming out. Like molten steel, that voice burned away at his nerves. "Not a big deal?" Whatever it was, it was a big deal to Marie and then he knew exactly what they were arguing about. And girl or no girl he wanted to smack Jubilation Lee a good one for what she'd said. Because it was a huge deal.

"You act like no one has ever been in the same boat." Jubilee clearly didn't get it. "It's just sex. Wear a nightgown, use a condom and just fuck someone already."

"Fuck _you_ Jubilee." Now her voice was raw with pain. "It isn't just sex. It's touch. It's cuddling with someone in bed and knowing I won't kill him by accident. Or necking on the couch in front of the TV. Someone pressing a kiss to the nape of my neck while I'm cooking because it's the only part of me not covered with flour and he can't stand to not kiss me somehow. It's everything you just ignore or take for granted because you've always had it."

"Oh woe is me," Jubilee was turning bitchy now. "Poor Rogue, her boyfriend cheated after she betrayed everything she was and cared about so she could touch him."

"I didn't do it for Bobby. I wouldn't do it for some boy who was afraid to kiss me even for a half a second." Now Rogue turned cold and cutting. "You don't know why I did it. Nobody does. Because nobody ever cared enough about me to ask. Logan at least said to make sure I was doing it for myself. And he hasn't seemed to hold my choice against me."

"Logan wants into your pants so bad he'd wear a full body condom if it meant touching you." Now the other girl had a sneer in her voice and it was all he could do to not growl in fury at her words. Sure he wanted Marie. But he wasn't after a quick fuck, not with Marie. She was a good girl. The kind of girl you kept and he had no business bein' near until he was able to sack up and be what she needed.

"And yet he hasn't made a move has he?" Rogue snapped back. "You don't know him Jubilee and I doubt you ever will. Because you don't even know me and you keep saying you're my friend."

"Then why?" Jubilee screamed the words. "Why would you turn your back on all of us and go try to be normal? Why would you give up being special? What's such a big deal that you couldn't just work harder and figure out your skin? Why take shortcuts?"

"I wasn't raised to be a lawyer or a doctor or anything extraordinary," Marie's voice was quiet and all the more pained in its softness. "I mighta been a teacher, or worked at the bank or somethin'. There's nothing amazin' about Marie D'Ancanto. And that was all right. Because all I ever wanted was to someday have a home of my own, and a family. I wanted a husband and a coupla kids. Babies I could carry under my heart and bring into the world with blood and sweat. Children I could kiss on the forehead to check for fever and hold their hands to help them walk."

Her voice broke and she took a breath that rattled her lungs as if she held back tears in her throat. "It wasn't a big dream, not like being a movie star or an artist or even a doctor. But it was my dream. It was the life I was raised to have and I know I woulda been a good momma. I woulda been content, maybe even happy." Her voice hardened, "That's why I took the cure. So that I could have children. And you have no right to stand there and tell me that _your_ beliefs about _my_ mutation trump my dreams."

"If that's all you want then why don't you…get inseminated or something? Have a baby?" Jubilee was trying to offer a solution when she couldn't even understand the entire problem and Logan felt like throttling her.

"Before she died, Jean couldn't even figure out if I could carry a baby," Rogue confessed. "We don't know if my mutation will kill any fetus like my skin can kill with a touch. And even if I did conceive and managed to carry to term… I wouldn't ever be able to touch my baby. I wouldn't be able to nurse her, or kiss him or…hold them that first time on my skin all bloody and messy from birth."

"There are plenty of—"

"Don't tell me there are plenty of guys, or babies that need adoption." Rogue sounded tired now. "You don't understand and right now I don't think you ever will. I'd be a worse danger to a child than I am to the rest of you because a baby wouldn't understand why its momma can't touch. It'd be hurtful and mean to try to adopt a baby when I couldn't care for it the way a momma should. And until you're able to stop judgin' my choices and try to understand them you're not allowed to try and talk to me about them. I've had enough."

"I just…" Jubilee's words faded off as Logan heard footsteps on the carpet.

Marie appeared in the doorway and he looked at her. "You heard." She said quietly.

"Every bit from 'Don't you dare tell me to get over it'." He returned wryly. "C'mon darlin'." He took her by the hand and pulled her out of the mansion.

* * *

><p>The woods were always a good place to walk and think and when he'd found one of the nicer spots he sat down on a log and patted the space next to him. "So how embarrassed are you?" He asked finally. She hadn't said a word since he'd taken her hand.<p>

"Surprisingly, not very." She shook her head. Her pretty mouth curved slightly. "I'm kinda at the point where I feel like I don't have much left to lose."

"Yeah?" He grinned. "I know that feeling pretty well myself." His arm slid around her shoulders and pulled her body closer to his. "For the record Marie, I think we could manage without the full body condom."

"You really oughta tell Jubilee that, it would serve her right." Marie was grinning, he could hear it in her voice. "Don't think I'd want you to suit up like that anyway sugar. Doesn't seem like you."

"Her idea of a nightgown and a condom has merit though." He drew back a little so he could see her face. "Though I think a silk sheet would be better. Plus it takes a bit for your mutation to kick in. I could have a lot of fun with that."

"Don't do me any favors Logan." Her voice was dry. "I know you like your woman hot and wild and sex the same way. A virgin who dreams of bein' a housewife isn't exactly your type."

"I like fighting in bars and women come easy there if I need sex. But that wasn't how I was raised." He pressed his nose to the top of her head and inhaled the sweet scent of her hair. "Weren't a lotta women lawyers or doctors back then. Women were strong, had spines like steel, but on the frontier, they had to be in the home or in the fields. Lotta times women'd do the plowin' or plantin' while the men hunted for meat. Had to get a lot in order to make it through a winter. Marriage was a partnership and it wasn't for the weak. Still isn't."

"Sugar what're you sayin'?" She sounded hopeful but so tired at the same time. He knew that feeling. Life could be exhausting. Hope would wear you down with disappointment until you didn't have the energy to do more than put one foot in front of the other.

"I'm sayin' that if you wanna be a teacher or a bank clerk or whatever that I'm all for it. But if you want to be my woman and take care of me and any kids we have or pick up along the way I'm good with that too." He couldn't look at her when he said it. Just like she couldn't look at him when she'd asked. "Jubilee wasn't wrong when she said I wanted to get into your pants. She just didn't realize that I want you in my bed, in my house, our house, for the rest of my life."

"Sugar, I'm not feral like you, I.."

"Can absorb any mutation. Including mine." He drew back and looked her in the eye. "And if you think that I won't take advantage of that to keep you healthy and by my side for as long as I possibly can then you've lost your mind." He'd been waiting a while for this. A long time for her to be old enough, for his heart to be healthy enough that she'd know he was asking because he wanted her. Not because the woman he'd cared for was dead. Not because he was desperate. But because he wanted Marie and had since she'd hollered an unneeded warning in Laughlin City. The Wolverine had claimed her then, promised to take care of her and tried to give his life to do so. She'd been his long before she put on those tags and every day since then. She might not have known it but he had.

He dug in his pocket and pulled out a little wooden box. He'd been carrying it around for the better part of two years waiting for his moment. Maybe handing it to her wasn't the most romantic gesture, and it wasn't the most original ring in the world. A piece of white gold twisted around a twinkling diamond, set smooth so it wouldn't catch on her gloves.

She opened the box and looked down at the gleaming metal. Silver and shining against the soft interior of the box it was perfect. "Oh Logan." Marie whispered and he couldn't be sure if she was saying no or if she was just confused.

"You gonna let me put it on you? Or should I court you some more?" His voice was gruff with uncertainty but she beamed up at him.

"I want you to put it on me." She pulled off her glove and held it out to him to use as a barrier. He shook his head and took the ring, slid it on and smiled as it fit snugly around the base of her finger. His mouth pressed down onto her finger and knuckles where metal met flesh and he felt the dizzying flicker of her mutation fluttering against his lips.

"You know what this means right?" He looked into her eyes, his breath still warm on her hand.

"Means I get to be your wife?" She tilted her head, obviously wondering what else it could mean.

"Means anybody bad mouths you, I get to kick their ass." Logan grinned and loosened the leash that held the Wolverine in. "And it means you're mine. And I'm yours. Forever darlin'."

"Sounds just long enough." She leaned up and pressed a delicate kiss to his lips.

Soft and sweet and hot, and everything he wanted, right there in one kiss. The Wolverine howled his triumph at the moon and the man drew her ever present silk scarf over her lips to devour her. "Mine." He proclaimed.

His mind was teeming with plans, a small house with at least two bedrooms, a fireplace for winters, a tub for his mate and a mudroom so he wouldn't dirty her floors. Bookshelves and a drawer full of scarves and gloves. A wide firm bed in their room with a soft quilt and a guest room that could end up a nursery if their luck went that way. Space outside the house to add more rooms on if needed and colors on the inside. Green like Marie's cloak and brown like mahogany of her hair.

"You're awfully far away for a man who just kissed me," Marie's soft voice teased. "Whatcha thinkin' about?"

"The house I'm gonna build for you." He smiled at the shocked look on her face. "And how I'm gonna prove to you that I'm worth all the shit you've taken about me over the years."

"Sugar, you don't have to prove anything to me." She stood and to his delight reseated herself in his lap. "I know everyone gave you a hard time because of me. And I don't care what anyone else thinks. I've loved you since I saw you fightin' in that cage."

"Marie, I…" He took a deep breath and prayed she'd understand. "I don't know love…not that soft sweet stuff everyone's always shoutin' about. What I got…is blood. Blood screaming inside me to work its will. Maybe that's love. If it is then I'm love's bitch because it's been screamin' in me since I saw you and every day since then. It doesn't take brains or sense…but I know that without you…the world isn't worth livin' in darlin'."

"Logan, that is love." She smiled at him and took his hand in her gloved fingers and held it to her hair and cheek. "You're right. It's not pretty, or nice or polite. But if it is…then that isn't love. My momma and daddy…they loved each other. And they fought and screamed but if they hadn't…if they hadn't cared enough to fight…"

She took a deep breath and kissed him again, careful and soft but so tenderly. "The opposite of love isn't hate. It's indifference." She slid off his lap and stood looking at him with his hand still in hers. "C'mon sugar. Let's go back to your room and scandalize Ro."

There was the Rogue. His wild woman who'd go and do what she had to in order to find her dream. "Sure you wanna do that? I'm gonna make you scream Marie."

"Promise?" She gave him a lightning grin and took off running.

The Wolverine laughed and then growled as he gave chase.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: So this pretty much wrote itself in an hour. Please bear with me and forgive any errors. My knowledge of the third X-Men movie is pretty much limited to fan fiction and what little I saw in the previews.<em>

_I hope you like it. It's just a little three shot, totally unrelated to my other fics but it grabbed me this afternoon and wouldn't let go._

_Oh bonus cookies to whoever finds the TV show quote/reference I put in. _


	2. 2 I Wanna Be Loved Like That

_**Simple Dreams**_

_2) I Wanna Be Loved Like That_

She was humming in the kitchen and the smells coming from the oven were almost as tantalizing as Marie's personal scent. The room was only half done but the oven and sink worked and electricity was on for the fridge. According to his woman that was all she needed. She used his work table as a counter for cooking when he was done building for the day.

He'd tried to talk her out of it more than once but she was stubborn. She laughed when he said so and told him that's what he got when he married Irish-Italian by way of Mississippi. When he'd grabbed her for a kiss that made him dizzy in more ways than one she'd poked him in the stomach and admonished him to behave if he wanted dinner.

When Marie talked in that tone of voice he knew better than to mess with her. She wasn't above using her mutation to lay him out. First time she'd done that he'd been blustering and growling about the Ice Dick and Jubilee after they'd been less than polite to Marie. He'd been all for kicking in some heads regardless of age or gender. And when he wouldn't listen and looked set to go do just that Marie'd got that look in her eye that said don't screw with the Rogue.

And then she'd kissed him. He'd sagged at the knees and still wanted to keep kissing her. He'd had the thought that he'd gladly kiss her until he passed out.

When he'd woken up from his involuntary nap she'd been very calmly sewing up a hole in one of his shirts. Something smelled like pot roast and corn bread. "You ready to listen to reason now Wolverine?"

Well he hadn't had much choice and that had tickled him to no end. She wasn't as big as he was but the Rogue was every bit as dangerous. He'd been able to smell that she was a little worried about his reaction to what she'd done but when he grinned at her she'd relaxed. And they'd talked. He'd done a little more blustering but mostly he let her speak her piece in a way he'd been too busy blustering to really hear before.

They didn't completely agree with each other but they did finally come to a compromise. She was going to speak to Ro about the attitude of the various team members. Logan would invite anyone who had to nerve to address him directly for a sparring session in the danger room.

He chuckled as he remembered that. The only person who'd have the nerve to talk to him had been Ro. And all she'd asked was that he try to remember that this was a school with impressionable young minds. Of course she'd said that after she'd caught him and Marie necking in the lounge instead of watching the movie.

"Hey baby." He called as he took off his boots in the mudroom. It was more like a mud lean-to at the moment but it functioned well enough. "How'd it go today?"

When he came inside she was grinning that Rogue's grin and almost bounced over to him. "You are looking at the newest preschool teacher at the Institute. Well preschool and day care but that's all right." She wiggled her fingers at him threateningly. "So behave sugar or I'll make you come be a climbin' tree for the munchkins."

"Damn, threat like that...you been listening to Ro? Or just the me in your head?" He dropped a kiss on the top of her head as he headed for the fridge. "You need any water baby? Or are you good for now?"

"I got some right here." She held up a bottle of water and took another sip. "Oh, got some more good news."

"Yeah?" He leaned against the fridge door and looked at her. She wasn't wearing gloves; they got in the way when she was cooking. "Jubilee finally shut her mouth about women's lib and feminism?"

"Sugar I said good news, not a damn miracle." Marie rolled her eyes.

"Lemme have it then darlin'." He grinned and moved closer as she pulled something bubbly and delicious out of the oven. "Oh my god you made lasagna..." He almost fell to his knees. Marie's lasagna was really something to be worshipped.

"That's not the good news." She laughed at him as she set it on the stove top to cool. "It's to celebrate the good news."

"Well damn, this day gets better and better." He wrapped his arms around her middle and kissed her hair again and risked pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"Hmm...keep goin'." She murmured huskily and shivered in his embrace.

"How long does that need to cool?" He rubbed his mouth over her soft neck and jawline. "Think we could have desert before dinner?"

She turned in his arms and kissed him hard on the mouth, demanding and hungry, her body pressed full length to his. He groaned as those full breasts pushed against his chest and his hands drifted down to the curve of her ass and squeezed. She felt so damn good. Her skin always smelt like sin in his nose, dangerous and hot, tempting him to kiss and touch more and more.

"Wolverine, take me to bed." That sweet magnolia voice was low with need and demanding.

"Yeah." He didn't want to stop kissing her and as long as the pull didn't start he figured he had time. Soft and willing in his arms, the mattress wasn't far away and he laid her over the blanket before he tore off his clothes. Marie was wiggling out of hers and reaching for him before he could grab the silk sheet from under the pillow.

"Not yet." She gasped as he found her breasts with his mouth and tried to grab for the silk with his free hand. It was easy to take her at her word, tempting as she was.

He'd never get tired of that white skin, soft and silky against his rough hands. That soft damp nest of curls between her thighs and the length of her legs as they wrapped around his waist was as close as he'd ever come to heaven. And hearing her moans as he sucked and teased her breasts had to be too perfect for this earth.

She was slick and hot as he rubbed the length of his cock over her curls and grabbed a condom from the box that served as the nightstand. "No sugar. Not this time. Please." Marie wrapped her bare fingers around his thick length and tugged his body towards hers.

Not for the first time he listened to his pounding blood instead of what little sense was in his head and did as she asked. He forced himself to slow down, to savor her, slippery wet flesh, clinging and tight around his cock. He wanted to remember this, the first time they'd been skin to skin together. Her moan was echoed by his as sensation began to overwhelm them.

Sweet cries of need. Grunts of satisfaction. Animalistic groans from both of them as they strained and pressed and took one another. A roar of completion as the Wolverine filled his mate with seed and a high pitched scream in his ears as her body took him in and bliss devastated her.

They were panting and half laughing at the clothes scattered around them like a bomb had gone off. He lowered his body to hers and kissed her again. She always melted against him when he kissed her softly and he loved that as much as he did her heated passion when his mouth demanded it. "Hmm...sugar is the blood almost back to your brain? Figure it out?" She was teasing him now.

Marie had always found it damn funny that her Wolverine who was so intelligent and damned analytical could, in her words, 'turn into a dope' whenever he got a hard on for her. Apparently she'd seen a Robin Williams sketch that said men had enough blood to run their penis and their brain, but not at the same time. Wolverine had to admit that when she put it that way she wasn't wrong.

"Well whatever we're celebratin' I like it." He muttered and remembered that he should roll off of her so her skin-

"Figure it out yet?" She grinned at him teasingly as he stared down at her.

"You turned your skin off?" He hoped that was it. Hoped for her sake that she'd found the control she so desperately wanted. He wanted more than anything in the world for Marie to have that dream of being a wife and mother. He wanted that dream too. His wife. Mother of his children.

"Hmm...it only lasts for an hour or so...at least so far." She smiled. "Hank has been a huge help. Figured out that it's been stuck on because of what happened when I first manifested. He thinks it's a subconscious thing. My mind tryin' to protect my body. Since Cody was...well a typical boy."

"So does he think you'll be able to flip it on and off when you want?" Logan was truly enjoying the feel of her against him. Silk sheets, body stockings, scarves...they were all great and he'd love being with her no matter what but lying with her skin to skin... He knew she'd truly believed that they'd never have that.

"Yeah, apparently me only being able to do it for an hour is just my brain getting in the way." Marie's smile turned a little shy. "But he... he studied some of my cells...he took scrapings from my insides...and my cells don't react to foreign bodies the way my skin cells do."

"Put that in dummy talk for me, my brain hasn't really gotten it's blood supply back yet." He shifted inside her and she moaned as he made his point.

"He thinks that I'll be able to carry a baby, even if I don't get my mutation fully under control." She was almost in tears with joy at the idea. "He's cautiously hopeful. He'd like to do some more tests...but he thinks...maybe I've absorbed you so much that my body is adapting. And he thinks my mind might be accepting you as safe so I'll have an easier time turning my skin off with you than anyone else."

"So maybe if we had a baby you would know that its part of you and me and you'd be able to touch the baby without worrying about your mutation." Logan rolled her over so she was straddling him and grinned up at her. "Even if you only get it under control for a coupla hours, that's enough time to nurse and hold a baby." He couldn't stop grinning at the thought.

"Exactly." She was riding him now, sliding up and down him until he could only grasp her hips and hang on.

"You know it ain't on when you're asleep?" He groaned the question out. "Why'd you think I love wakin' you up so much? I can seduce you when you're asleep and you wake up all hot an' ready...it's so good baby."

"God Logan!" He couldn't be sure she'd heard him as her orgasm crashed over her and his followed hers almost immediately.

Resting together again he felt the buzz of her mutation turning on slowly and he lazily found the sheet and tucked it over her limp body. "Hmm..." She sighed and sat up. "You must be starvin'." She grabbed his shirt and pulled it on while he did the same with his jeans.

"I could eat." He grinned. "You certainly give me an appetite." The cheerful leer he gave her made her giggle.

She dished up the lasagna and pulled out the salad she'd made while he grabbed her wine and a beer for him. Any other time she liked a Molson as much as he did but when they had Italian Marie liked a glass of red wine.

"What was that song you were hummin' earlier?" He asked later. He liked lying next to her on the mattress while she used his shoulder as a pillow and read a book on her tablet.

"Oh, it's an old one. Country group called Shenandoah, you know, after the river?" She smiled at him. "'S called 'I Wanna Be Loved Like That'. It's just about a simple life with love that doesn't need fancy trimmings."

"I like that." He let his fingers stroke through her hair. "You don't regret it do you? Sayin' yes to me? This simple life?"

"Never sugar." She twisted to look him in the eye. "I was actually thinkin' its time we set a date."

"Don't wanna wait 'til the house is done?" He looked around the open area. It was very basic still. Hence the mattress on the floor five feet from the kitchen.

"It's been seven months. We spent three of that in your old room at the school. We could say five months from now, the date you proposed...and that would give us enough time." She smiled at him teasingly. "I never wanted a huge wedding. Just a little ceremony and a party in the cafeteria for the folks at the school."

"You should at least have a pretty dress and flowers and stuff." Wolverine wondered if he'd truly lost his mind. He should be thanking God that she didn't want a huge wedding that would take another year to plan. Instead he was trying to convince her that she needed all the trimmings.

"Logan, for me it was never about the wedding, it was about bein' married, bein' loved. My simple little dream. I'll find a dress that I like and I'll carry some flowers that smell good. But I never cared about the gown and the veil and the reception." She kissed his shoulder. "I'm marryin' you. That's all I need."

"You change your mind we got enough to spring for a fancy thing you know." He pulled her closer and kissed her again. "Long as I'm alive you'll never want for anything baby. I promise."

"I just need to find a ring for your finger." Marie grinned at him. "Nobody'll believe you married a homely little gal like me. I need to make sure all those barflies know you're off the market."

"Baby you're beautiful." How she didn't see it was somethin' he'd never understand. But he'd have a word with Ro tomorrow about a dress and flowers. Marie would enjoy a little shopping trip with Ro and the weather witch wouldn't make it all about her the way Jubilee would.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: So a little bit of action for the Wolverine...and some progress for Rogue. I think she'd get further with Hank than she would the professor. And Hank always struck me as more sympathetic. Xavier was always about embracing the mutations but he could 'pass' for human easily enough.<em>

_I figured Hank might also have more time to work with Rogue and he'd understand that desperate need for normalcy, as much as she can have. And he'd be willing to help her with it, using any method that was safe._


	3. 3 The Middle

_**Simple Dreams**_

_The Middle_

Five months had gone by like wildfire. Marie had made progress in leaps and bounds when it came to her mutation. Hank had taken the information that it was off when she was asleep and figured out exactly what was going on. Sleep studies and experiments had revealed that it was only when she was sleeping with Wolverine that she felt so safe but it was good information to have.

Funny enough, it had been Xavier who'd figured out a way around Rogue's distrustful subconscious. Hypnotherapy and practice had given Marie more control over her skin than she'd ever had before. Now she needed only to turn it off in the morning and back on midway through the day. As with all skills, practice made perfect.

So they'd added Danger Room sessions to her training. The goal being for Marie to keep her skin off no matter the provocation, and they had been many.

It had been something of an eye opener for all of Marie's detractors. Even the people who claimed to be her friends had resented her choice to take the Cure. Hank had posited the theory that because her mutation had been turned off and slowly manifested bit by bit rather than all at once, Marie had a better handle on how it felt and how to deal with it.

Logan didn't care. His woman was happy and that was all he really gave a damn about. Sure Jubilee had given her shit about not shopping for a wedding dress. And not having five bridesmaids. And then for not booking an island in the Caribbean for the honeymoon. But Rogue had dealt with the crazy mall rat firmly and politely.

One last nail in the coffin, so to speak, and he was ready. Logan looked around and nodded in satisfaction. The women had carried Marie off saying there was no way she was going to see him the night before the wedding. She'd finally capitulated and kissed him good night. He hoped those gossiping gabbies had let her get some sleep.

He'd spent the night working on the house. It had been finished a few days before but they'd had to move into the school while the paint fumes aired out. Paint, stain and grout, then the floors were finished, the tile was sealed and the fireplace had been completed.

So he'd cleaned the place, an' he and Hank and Kurt had moved furniture. Hank had given them a damn nice piece of art for the fireplace mantle and Kurt had given them an old fashioned clock that wound up with a key, pendulum and everything. Xavier's gift to them had come years earlier, a patch of land adjoining his where they'd built the house. He'd known even then that Wolverine wouldn't be able to settle in a place not his own for too long. Now the house and the land around it belonged to the Wolverine and his mate. Home territory.

The morning of his wedding and he was automatically washing and shaving like it was any other day. Well...he was a little nervous. There was always a chance Marie would come to her senses and tell him to get lost.

Deep breaths. It was hard to take slow deep breaths. Hank had to keep touching his elbow or he might just have been the first Feral to pass out from hyperventilating. He felt for the ring in his vest pocket and, reassured that it hadn't gone missing in the last five minutes, took another deep breath.

When she walked into the room it was without ceremony. She wore a simple silver grey dress of lace that shone like the streak of white in her hair and fit every curve of her body while still looking simple and elegant. All that silky hair he loved was twisted up into a soft looking knot and all he could think about was taking it down later. Her eyes looked huge and dark and her pretty mouth was curved into a smile.

"Hey darlin'," Wolverine greeted her with a smile as she took his hand.

"You like it?" She asked shyly. "I did my best."

"You look beautiful." He wanted to kiss her right then.

"You look real handsome sugar." She was eyeing him up and down with a gleam in her eye that he liked to encourage. It made the dress slack, button down shirt, pin striped vest and silk tie worth the time and trouble. He'd even found a pair of nice shoes.

Someone, Jubilee he'd bet, was muttering about the two of them being hopeless. Someone else must have elbowed her in the ribs because her mutters stopped with a pained gasp.

As receptions went it was probably one of the better ones he'd been to. Food and beer and wine. Cake of course and something Marie called the Groom's Cake, which was chocolate traditionally. And Marie had made some pies just because she knew he liked pie.

There was some dancing, the floor cleared of tables and one of the kids acting as DJ. Mostly new music but a few that he could dance to with Marie in his arms. She was singing softly as he tugged her into his lap about ignoring what people with bitter hearts were gonna say.

"That's us baby." He smiled up at her. "We're in the middle of the ride yet. But it's a good one, yeah?"

"Oh yeah sugar." She kissed him, her mouth smiling as she did. "The best."

"Love you." He patted her as and grinned as she just giggled.

"Love you too."

* * *

><p>It had taken them a while but they'd fallen into a rhythm. Hank was actually pretty good at getting Wolverine to stay calm.<p>

He never thought Marie would be laughing in between contractions but apparently he was damn funny when he was worried. She was just so happy these days, finally pregnant after a couple years of trying and worrying it wasn't possible after all.

It went by in a blur, those first scary months, then Marie getting all round and even more beautiful with his baby inside her. She'd gotten so round she was convinced that she was too fat and couldn't do more than waddle around. One of her preschoolers had been patting her belly and cooing to it. Apparently the kid was an empath and Marie's 'tummy' was a very happy spot to be. That kid actually followed Marie home one day.

That had caused an uproar at the school. Ro and Hank, even Jubilee and Drake had turned out to look for the little girl. And there she was on Marie's front porch knocking at the door like she hadn't just hiked half a mile all by herself.

"Hi," she'd chirped up at him when he'd opened the door. "I'm Aurelia. Can I play with Miss Rogue?" She'd slipped right past him and made straight for Marie. Marie, who'd giggled at his expression and scooped the little girl up.

He had to admit, he liked little kids better than he did the teenagers. Little ones listened to him, understood that he was big but he was only mean when he had to be and it was only to other 'mean nasty peoples' as one kid had put it. They felt safe with him and trusted him in a way the older kids didn't. Teenagers didn't seem to get that he was tough on them because he had to be. If he didn't teach them how to survive who would? If they got hurt because of a gap in their education it was on him as their teacher.

The little ones though…they understood that when he told them something it was because it was important. Animals were always closer to the skin in smaller children, probably another reason he liked them and they liked him. More than once he'd come into the preschool to find the kids playing zoo and all of them wanting to growl and roar or purr. Because he was a feral he got a 'cage' of his very own and more than one kid ended up in his lap imitating his growls. This one for instance, she was making little purring noises at Marie's stomach.

Logan shook his head as he remembered how he'd picked up the phone to let Ro know her little one was safe and sound. Aurelia had been heartbroken when it was time to go back to the school. After that Marie and he had talked and agreed that something had to be done for the kids who were too young to be on their own. More and more children were being abandoned as infants or toddlers out of fear or need. Aurelia's mother had an obvious mutation, and according to her the father was also a mutant. So the odds of Aurelia being a mutant had been good.

But an empath couldn't be starved for affection and grow up sane any more than a child could be raised without touch and turn out healthy. He and Marie had taken Aurelia and another little boy in. Other adults at the school had figured out how to manage being adoptive parents as well. Being raised in a community and being loved was all well and good but a child needed parents. Even one was better than none.

It had turned out to be an improvement even if there was a lot of rearranging as far as rooms went. The kids were happier, so were the adults. It did them all good to have a little bit of normal life. Family life, the way a lot of them had grown up with and lost one way or the other.

Of course that meant that everyone and their brother figured that Marie giving birth was their damn business. It was driving him crazy, all those people in the hall talking and chattering, falling silent when Rogue shouted with pain and then talking again. Hank was great but he was the doctor and should be paying attention to Marie, not the agitated Wolverine.

When he said as much Hank chuckled at him. "Women have been giving birth longer than you've been alive Logan. I'm only here to make sure it all goes smoothly. I think keeping you from clawing the school's population bloody qualifies."

Wolverine had growled and Marie had laughed at him before she groaned again and then the real mess began. He was grateful for his healing factor as her hand tightened on his. The woman had strength to her and she was in agony as the baby struggled to be born. She was bearing down, he was cursing a blue streak and Hank was torn between dealing with the baby and admonishing the new father regarding his language.

"Good God, calm down alla ya," A booming voice startled everyone in the hall silent. Wolverine stifled a groan. He did not need this right now. "What's goin' on? Someone dyin'?

"MaMarie's havin' our baby," Aurelia piped up. Her adopted brother Morach gave a two year old growl of agreement. Part of the reason he and Marie had two kids to most of the others' one was that Morach was feral. Some sort of canine, wolf maybe, and he was very territorial.

"Well it was 'bout time for that wasn't it?" The voice didn't get any quieter. "Sounds like she's just 'bout done with that. Your daddy in there too?"

"Ruh huh." Morach had the tendency to growl or grunt in communication, something association with the Wolverine hadn't abated one bit. "You'rrre a cat." He announced.

"An' yer a wolf cub." Well he always had been pretty blunt.

Wolverine's attention was pulled back to his wife and the baby she was bringing into the world when she groaned loudly and Hank began to chuckle shortly after. "There she is…pretty as a picture." He did something mysterious with clips and scissors and lifted the newborn up for them to see. "Take a breath and relax, make sure you've turned off your skin." The blue feral cautioned even as he set the baby on Marie's chest.

She was a red, squirmy, crying bloody mess of spiky dark hair and she was not pleased with the world. Not until her mama touched her fingers and cooed at her. Then she quieted some though it was obvious that she didn't like this cold bright place much. "Wolverine, if you'll give her to me I'll clean her up and get her in a diaper and blanket." Ro offered, "Rogue still has a bit of work to do."

He nodded in acknowledgment but picked his daughter up and brought her to the basin himself. She was so tiny in his hands. Scrubbing her gently and playing with her toes in the warm water distracted him from the process of dealing with the afterbirth going on behind him. By the time Hank and Marie were done he and the baby were turning around and Marie was reaching eagerly for their daughter.

"You may as well tell everyone to come on in sugar," Marie sighed as she leaned back with the baby against her chest. "Aurelia and Morach'll be raisin' the roof out there."

"Yeah." He nodded but didn't move, too captivated by the joy on her face. They'd done this, made a child together. "Lemme know, if you wanna take in some healin'." He didn't like that she was still clearly in pain and would be for a while.

"Let me tough it out for a while," Marie took his hand and held it to her cheek. "I don't wanna risk healin' so much that my milk dries up. It's better for babies to nurse." He could only nod again and draw nearer, to sit on the edge of the mattress so she could lean against him.

Hank must have let the rest of the madhouse in the room because it suddenly filled with X-Men. All of whom were warily remaining aloof from the huge mutant who strode forward with a huge bundle on his back. Aurelia and Morach were taking advantage of the space to hurl themselves forward towards the bed and their family.

"I heard somethin' about my little brother gettin' married." Sabretooth actually lowered his voice in deference to the newborn. "Got a little held up in China for a while. So I didn't get a chance to come by with your wedding gift." He took something off his back and laid it over the sheet and hospital bed.

It was rude to stare but when someone presented you with a king size quilt made of sable and mink it was hard not to. "That's for Jimmy." Victor said as he rummaged through his bag for another bundle. "This is for your wife. Heard she had a weakness for silks." A waterfall of brushed silk fell out of a leather bag, sheer and soft.

"And this…" He was almost shy as he pulled the last boxes out and put them on the end of the bed. "This is for the baby. This is for your son and this is for your daughter."

Wolverine had never seen his brother behave this way. Sabretooth was tense but it wasn't like he was going to kill someone. "Uh…"

Before he could make an ass out of himself Marie smiled. "It's real kind of you Victor." She patted the other side of the bed. "I guess you've already met Aurelia and Morach." She gave the two kids a look that said they'd better be polite. "And this one…" It was her turn to look shy.

"We decided to name her Victoria Charlene." Logan met his brother's eyes. For all the crap that had gone down between them, all the memories he'd lost and regained, Victor was his brother. He was screwed up and difficult but there wasn't anything that he wouldn't do for family.

"It's cause MaMarie says family's important." Aurelia piped up. "I wanna see our sister." She was inching forward, the presents forgotten in the thrill of a brand new baby.

The rest of the X-Men took that as their cue to agree, a bit too loudly, because the newly named Victoria protested the assault upon her ears. Her crying made the ferals wince but her daddy leaning forward and growling protectively seemed to relax her some. "She's happy." Aurelia announced with a pleased smile. "As happy as she was in the tummy. She likes Papa's growls."

Enjoyable as the company was Marie was falling asleep and it was definitely time for her to get some much needed rest. Wolverine shooed everyone out except his brother and children and promised they could all visit later. Much later.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: So we're on track and things seem to be going smoothly so far… this might have been a little fluffy but I didn't want too much angst in this story. Some yes. But after a while… nope. Gotta have the fluffy.<em>

_So tell me what you folks think and we've got another chapter because this story didn't want to stop and a little epilogue after that._

_I swear these things take on a life of their own._


	4. 4 Turn Turn Turn

_**Simple Dreams**_

_Turn Turn Turn_

"So what's the deal with all the little ones runnin' all over?" Victor never had been one to beat around the bush. He'd scooped up Aurelia and Morach and carted them into the room adjoining Rogue's. She'd only be in the infirmary overnight but no one wanted to go back home without her and Victoria. "Thought this was a highschool or somethin'."

"It is," Wolverine sighed. "But people been just..." He looked at his sleeping children and kept his voice very low. "They just leave the kids here. So we all just..."

"Form family units." Sabretooth nodded. "'S good. Better for the kids." He was staring at Aurelia. "I suppose I might as well tell you now. You little one there...she's got some feral in her. It's probably where the empathy comes from. Lotta us got it."

"I figured from her scent." Logan took a deep breath. "So why'd you show up now Vic? What's goin' on?"

"Finally got clear of the government jobs, the 'rehabilitation' they were makin' me do." His brother shrugged. "Didn't wanna come to your door with that hangin' over me. Not when you had a new wife and some sprouts to deal with. You know me. I don't bring trouble to family."

"Maybe you oughta start, we could keep you from gettin' in deeper, or help get you out of it." The younger feral suggested. "Appreciate the thought though."

"Yeah..." Victor sighed his eyes still on the little girl. "Your little girl...and your son. They know they're adopted right? No blood between all of us?"

"Considering Morach just arrived three months ago, yeah he's aware. And Aurelia's not stupid. She remembers bein' brought to the school an' livin' there instead of with us." Logan regarded his older brother a bit warily. "Just spit it out Vic. What're you tryin' to get at?"

"The little one...Aurelia..." Sabretooth looked profoundly uncomfortable. "I just...really don't want her to think of me as only an uncle." He sighed when Logan just stared at him. "I got a good sniff of her scent earlier... 's how I knew she was feral. But I... Shit."

"Holy hell!" Logan remembered just in time to keep his voice down. "You can tell? She's not even... Vic she isn't even twelve."

"I know that." It was almost comical for such a huge man to look so twisted up and freaked out. "You think I like knowin' this shit? She's a baby for god's sake. It's... fuckin' wrong."

"Well it ain't like you're plannin' on takin' her an' raisin' her to be your little daughter wife." Logan pointed out. "Not like those sick fucks we came across in '02."

"Geh," the noise of revulsion was pure feline. "God no."

"Then what's the problem? 'Less you think sixteen is old enough." Wolverine glared at his larger brother. "Because it ain't. Any woman who's gotta deal with you needs more than sixteen years of livin' under her belt."

"Shit Jimmy, I'd wait until she was twenty if I needed to." Sabretooth was glancing at the sleeping child with something very close to adoration on his face. "She ain't scared of me and that's the best thing. Just want permission to be around her an' you tell her that I'm not her uncle. Damned if I'm gonna deal with that kinda craziness."

"Marie'll have somethin' to say about this." Logan muttered. "I ain't agreein' to anything until I talk to her."

"Figured as much." Sabretooth nodded. "I just wanna be able to come around an' see alla you." He was glancing into the other room that held Rogue and the baby before he regarded the sleeping children and then his brother. "I'll even tell Xavier I'm sworn off anything but white hat jobs. Lord knows I can do protection details in my sleep."

"We'll talk to Marie about it in the morning after the baby's fed." Wolverine told him. "Get some sleep."

"Yeah." One last look at the tiny girl and Victor closed his eyes.

* * *

><p>Logan was getting used to being climbed on when he woke up. Aurelia had started it, Morach had continued it, then Victoria and her little brother had learned by example. Thankfully Brandon was still young enough that he couldn't smother his mother and father with the climbing.<p>

Marie, asleep beside him only a moment before, groaned as Morach and Victoria cuddled her aggressively. Her eyes opened with a smile and Logan caught his breath as she looked at him and her smile glowed with joy. More than ten years of marriage and he still couldn't believe she'd chosen him.

"Where's Aurelia?" Logan looked around for their eldest daughter. She was sixteen and a bit old for climbing into bed with her parents but normally she stood in the doorway and laughed at them.

"She's sleepin' with Uncle Victor," Brandon muttered. "In the big chair."

Logan blinked looked at Marie and took a deep breath. They'd known this day was coming for a while. To give him credit Victor had done his best to be anything but a suitor until Aurelia had turned fourteen. But when her scent had changed and she'd hit that edge of being a woman Victor had changed too.

* * *

><p>Rogue regarded the couple in her living room with a tilted head. Neither one of them had noticed her, most likely because she'd learned to be just as quiet as the ferals she lived with. The need to protect Aurelia had died stillbirth when she got a look at what was going on.<p>

Victor, wide awake was taking slow deep breaths, Aurelia's hair in his nose. He was purring as only a huge cat could, soothing the girl sleeping in his arms so that she remained in slumber. And when Aurelia woke finally, wiggling against the huge man as she yawned, Sabretooth's hands grabbed onto her hips and held her still. "You better get goin'." He told her gruffly.

"Why?" Aurelia's winsome tone had a streak of confusion to it that only a true innocent could achieve.

"Because I'm a grown ass man and you ain't old enough to be sleepin' with me yet." Victor said flatly.

"I'm sixteen. Past sixteen. I'm legal." Aurelia thought she was making valid points but she wasn't. Rogue had her own feral to deal with when she was sixteen and woman she might have been biologically, mentally and physically she wouldn't have been able to handle the Wolverine at that age.

"Yeah so? That don't mean I go fuckin' girls who ain't ready. Legal don't have a thing to do with it and you know it." He growled and Rogue could see Aurelia's shiver.

"You told me..."

"I told you flat out that if you wanted to date that was fine. That doesn't mean you sneak into my house and try to warm my bed. It don't mean you get to cuddle up and sleep with me like this." He was well and truly mad now and it showed in his voice. "I want you. You know damn well I do." The slight shift in the chair of his hips and Aurelia's sudden catch of breath made it clear just how evident Sabretooth's need was. "But you aren't ready for me yet. You're still a kid."

"I'm not a child, goddamnit!" She was hissing at him as only a female could, her feral side roused and furious. "What am I supposed to do with all this... need I got inside me? Wait for you to decide I'm old enough? Buy a vibrator? Date some guy who'll get me drunk and take me to bed? What?"

"Oh no," Victor growled right back at her. "You pull your claws in kitten. You don't get to lay that on me. Figure it out. Talk to your mama. Or geez, get online and read. You're my mate. That doesn't mean you control me. Means that when you're old enough to handle the Sabretooth and you make that choice with your eyes open you'll be mine."

"If you're my-"

"Don't even go there." His growl was beyond furious. "Don't you dare try to manipulate me 'Relia. Not with this. You've had me wound around your fingers since you were six years old. But don't you try to say that if I was really your mate that I'd take you now. I've waited ten years. I can wait four or five more. If I gotta I'll leave."

"Don't. Please. Don't go." The catch in her voice was enough to illustrate that however young she was Aurelia felt a great deal for Victor. "Please. I'll be good. I won't... I won't tease. I promise. Just don't leave. I hate it when you're gone."

"Aw kitten..." His gruff voice was resigned. "I ain't tellin' ya that to make you behave. I want you to be who you are. Claws an' all. But you gotta grow up some more. Flirt with me, tease me, whatever. Just...remember I got limits. An' you climin' into my bed naked to leave your scent on my sheets does not help me control myself."

"I thought you'd like it." She admitted. "I thought it might help you sleep. The way I sleep better when I know you're around."

"It does and it doesn't." He sighed heavily. "I love it. But it does nothing to control the part of me that's sayin' you're a woman an' its time for you to be my mate all the way. Because you need some more years on you before you've got a stiff enough spine to deal with my cranky ass."

"I just..." She sighed and rubbed her cheek against his, her feral side trying to express what she couldn't voice.

"I know." Victor lifted her so she wasn't sitting quite so provocatively in his lap and kissed her very gently. "It ain't easy for me either." He ran one huge hand through her hair. "We'll figure somethin' out. Maybe when you're eighteen, we can start...I dunno...datin'? Courtin'? Shit is it even called courtin' anymore."

"Nineteen." She whispered. "Eighteen is two years away from twenty. I can't take two years of not touching you the way I want. But if we...just talk like this...and I know you're around...and you know I am... I think I could make it three years until you start to court me. As long as there's some kissing between now and then."

"Kissin'...that'll start when you're eighteen kitten." Victor bargained.

"Now that we have all that settled?" Rogue moved into the living room and regarded her daughter with a very stern look. "Aurelia, you and I are going to have a long talk about what it's appropriate to do when your mate is feral. And what is not."

Sabretooth shot her a grateful look while Aurelia groaned but nodded. "Yes Mama."

* * *

><p>The school was in something of an uproar. Logan and Sabretooth along with Morach were storming around like they'd made a bargain with death. Rogue took a deep calming breath and turned to the rest of the team. "When were they last seen?"<p>

"Four hours ago." Kitty was keeping to the facts less the very irate ferals took exception to her tone or interpretation. "They went to the mall, were seen coming out and getting into the car, lots of bags, and the last we've got is a traffic cam on the way back home."

"Any chatter about military ops or FOH in the area?" Professor Xavier, and it was still strange after so many years to not see him in a wheelchair, asked as he entered the room.

"Nothing along those lines." Kitty shook her head.

From another corner of the room Ororo called. "I think I've got something. There's something on the police scanner about a van in a vehicular accident. There were two other cars involved, but one of them fled the scene. The driver of the other car is dead."

"Any other information?" Beast was working his magic with another computer. "I've got a suspicious sighting of a man dressed for cold weather despite the temperature outside."

Rogue scowled and turned as her husband, brother-in-law and adopted son entered the room. Morach was particularly riled up and only Logan's steady hand on his shoulder as alpha was keeping him from going completely crazy.

"I'm going down to the scene of the accident. I'll take Logan with me. We can say we're parents at least. The police might tell us something."

"We'll take coms with us and we'll send everything we have back to the school." Logan looked at Morach sternly. "You are under Sabretooth's command now Morach. I expect you to obey him." He looked at his brother, "Vic, keep him outta trouble. We'll be back as soon as we can."

* * *

><p>The Wolverine was ready for blood. His mate was upset and afraid and angry. His girl cubs were missing and his male cubs were ready to break their training and a lifetime of listening to him as alpha and go running after them.<p>

His mate was looking at him worriedly and he growled to reassure her that he wasn't going to go wild. Wild was for when the pack was safe again. He would need his mate more than ever then. Need her soft hands and firm eyes and strong body to yield to his. Her scent was heady even with her worry. She was in season again.

A scent he knew too well was on the air and he growled again, cold fury filling his voice. "Stop the truck."

* * *

><p>"So much for ya comin' back for us before you kicked ass." Sabretooth's voice was sardonic in Wolverine's ringing ears.<p>

"He picked up their trail and it was all I could do to keep him in the truck." Rogue's voice was tired but relieved. "At least we told you where to come."

"Yeah, the ass end of New York." Sabretooth muttered and Wolverine shook his head trying to clear his ears.

"Well if they didn't know we were here before they for sure know now." Morach observed as he pushed aside the remains of a door. "Although the explosion did help us find you."

"You can thank your father for that," Rogue replied dryly. "He didn't care that it was obviously trapped."

"Thanks Papa," Morach offered with a cheeky grin. He inhaled and growled as scents drifted towards him out of the dark hall.

"I smell 'em too." Wolverine finally could talk though his throat felt as if it had been coated in ash and chemicals. It probably had, depending on what explosive had been used. Rogue was all right at least. She didn't even have a hair out of place.

"More than just our girls," Sabretooth muttered. "You don't think it's that simple do you?"

"Slave trade in Exotics?" Rogue had caught Vic's meaning a second before Wolverine. "I hope so."

"Why would you hope for that?" Morach didn't get it.

"Because virgins are highly prized, and are usually left untouched for a greater price." Rogue replied evenly. Even as Morach was expressing his disgust another voice as agreeing with Rogue.

"Stripes is right." The voice was rough, female but husky. Frankly it sounded as if whoever it was didn't talk much. Wolverine put himself in front of his mate and son, growling a warning. It didn't make much of an impression. "I can take you to them."

The female who emerged from the shadows was only a bit taller than Rogue. Dark hair hung to her thighs and, besides a bra and a pair of ripped jeans, was all that covered her. Her feet were bare and smeared with dried blood as was her torso.

"Could be a trap." Wolverine muttered to Victor.

"She's not a trap." Sabretooth shook his head. "And if she is I don't give a fuck. She smells like family." He was looking the girl up and down. "I'm Victor, this is Jimmy. Or Logan, I guess. That's Marie and Morach."

"Laura. My mother named me Laura." She offered the name with a half tilt of her head. "C'mon. They and the other girls and a few boys are down below us. I've already killed the guards."

"How?" Rogue's voice was gentle, not disbelieving but curious. "I don't see any weapons on you."

"With these." Claws sprouted from her hands, two apiece and one from each foot between her toes. They gleamed with a silver sheen that Wolverine knew all too well.

"Shit." Victor had recognized that metal too. "They fucked with your bones too kid?"

"Only the claws." Laura shook her head. "We should go now." She turned and began to lead them further into the complex.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: So this is chapter was completely unplanned and then Victor showed up at the last minute when Rogue was giving birth. And damned if he didn't demand a mate of his own.<em>

_I'm sure you all recognize that arguing with Sabretooth is bad for you health so I capitulated._

_And it seemed right to give a portion of this in Marie's perspective. Because the idea of Logan listening in on Aurelia and Sabretooth's talk and doing nothing violent just did not make any sense. I also wanted a threat that wasn't a mutant threat per se. Slave trade and sex trafficking is a real and growing problem all over the world._

_Hope you enjoy and I'll have the epilogue up in a few more days I hope._


	5. 5 Storybook Love

_**Simple Dreams**_

_Storybook Love_

Rogue carefully kept Logan's attention on her and Victoria, and then Laura. She knew he was aware of Victor and Aurelia's burgeoning relationship but she doubted that her husband would truly want to see Sabretooth kissing Aurelia the way he was. Though if things kept on the way they were Victor would have Aurelia under him and everyone would know what they were doing.

At least they'd gotten all the girls out. A few boys had been among them, young, slender and pretty enough that they'd be tempting to any pedophile who favored males. All of them were either feral or exotic looking in some way, mutant or otherwise. A few were just beautiful.

Rogue was grateful that along with her teaching certificate she'd gotten a license to drive a bus. It came in surprisingly handy. As did the tricks she'd learned about hotwiring. That had certainly impressed her son. Morach had stared at her for a full five minutes over Victoria's head when that bit of news had been revealed.

And Laura had come along with them. That was good. She and Logan were talking quietly about her upbringing and if Rogue knew her husband, and she did, Logan was explaining about the school.

There'd been a bit of confusion as to where they'd take the 'normal' victims of the slave trade. Sabretooth had been all for taking them to the nearest hospital and letting the cops deal with them. Wolverine hadn't been quite so hard but he hadn't been much better.

It had been Victoria and Aurelia who'd put their collective feet down and demanded that everyone should come back to the school. Hence the bus.

Rogue sighed and felt Logan slip into the seat behind her. His hand cupped her shoulder while his mouth found the curve of her neck and pressed a kiss to it. "You always said you wanted a big family darlin'." He reminded her.

"So I did." Rogue tossed a grin over her shoulder. "Which means you and Vic had better add onto the house. I think Laura deserves a room of her own. Unless you wanna share with Tori sugar?" She asked the bewildered Laura.

"That would be fine ma'am." Laura's voice was still a bit confused.

"Logan honey, you better explain to her about my mutation and what a girl like me is doin' with alla you nutty ferals." Rogue laughed. "We've got quite a drive ahead of us."

"Well it's a long story anyhow." Logan chuckled and grabbed the microphone of the bus. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl in Mississippi. And she was born with soft white skin. And when she was fifteen she had her first kiss. But the girl was special and wasn't supposed to be kissing just any boy. Her skin turned on and put the boy's lights out for three weeks."

Rogue listened in amazement as her husband proceeded to tell her life story over the loudspeaker to a busload of teenagers. What was truly shocking was that one and all they were spell bound. Even Victor and Aurelia slowed their kissing to listen.

Now and then there were boos or exclamations as they heard about her life, things that had been done to her, or things she'd done. When Logan got to her taking the cure there were sniffles and when her mutation came back, and he talked about her argument with Jubilee there were supportive mutters and more than a few cheers.

He didn't leave anything out. Not their simple wedding or the lasagna the night she'd finally learnt to control her skin for an hour at a time. The birth of their daughter, Victor rejoining them, getting her teaching degree and their son's birth. And finally the events that had led them to the rescue.

"And now they have a busload of kids to be family." Logan was finishing up as they pulled into Westchester. "Which means things are just the way we like 'em. Loud, crowded and fun."

"You got that right sugar." Rogue laughed. "All right folks, the mansion at the top of the hill is the school. We got some crazy people there. A genius who looks like the Cookie Monster. A woman who can fly and control the weather. A man with a tail, also blue, who can teleport."

"Coupla ferals and an empath or two," Aurelia called out.

"A Druid, a Buddhist and an Agnostic, along with telepaths, a girl who walks through walls, a Cajun who makes stuff explode," Sabretooth continued.

"A guy who makes Sabretooth look tiny and can turn into metal." Morach offered with a grin at Victoria.

"And way too many others to list." Victoria grinned back at him. "But the most important rule of the school is this."

"There's always room for one more." Rogue's family chanted together.

"And that goes double at our house." Wolverine chuckled as Rogue pulled the bus up to the front door. "We'll get you all settled in here and show you our space tomorrow."

"We're gonna need to put some more houses up." Sabretooth observed as he scooped Aurelia up and carried her off the bus. Rogue grinned and wondered how long it would be before the huge feral could stand to let go of her daughter.

"Yeah. Cabins maybe, scatter 'em around the property so we all got territory." Wolverine agreed and helped some of the weaker kids off the bus. Ororo and Beast had appeared at the front door to welcome everyone. Rogue watched as everyone exited, Laura going last until Wolverine came back on and scooped her up for a kiss.

"C'mon darlin'." He teased. "You're gonna miss your happy ending." Another kiss and golden glowing eyes were looking down into hers. "Maybe we'll just..."

"Defer the happy ending for another day?" Marie teased him as she kissed him back. "After all... you can't have missed that it's that time. And we had been talking about another baby."

His growl of agreement simply sent shivers over her body as the Wolverine began to carry her towards their house. Rogue smiled in contentment. Happy endings could wait. They had another happy beginning to make.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note:<em>

_That's it folks. A little longer than a I planned...and Sabretooth totally was not supposed to make an appearance. But there you go. He seems to muscle his way in wherever he wants. Rude much?_

_Hope you all liked it. I didn't want anything really heavy or hard to deal with. The first chapter was enough of that for me. I actually cried as I wrote that._

_If you wonder about the chapter titles, wonder no more. I chose them because the lyrics have some resonance with the chapters. So here they are, with the bands who play them._

Do I Wanna Know - Arctic Monkeys'

I Wanna Be Loved Like That - Shenandoah

The Middle - Jimmy Eat World

Turn Turn Turn - The Byrds

Storybook Love - Willy DeVille


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